Refreshing and original (4/5)

Rating: 9/10 (20 December 2003)

It might be misleading to call it the most original zombie flick.
The truth is, it's a zombie flick at heart, it's just a different kind of zombie flick. It plays homage to zombie movies, so a lot of the typical zombie flick formulas are still present.
The typical zombie flick is all chessy gore, and it underlines a subplot of how the evil in human may be more horrifying than the man-eating zombies. Danny Boyle basically flip the typical zombie formula to the other side, it emphasizes on survival and human emotions in an apocalyptic scenario. The zombies are just a backdrop, it could've been any other apocalyptic scenario.
Though he chose to use zombies as the backdrop, and he did well in updating the zombie formula. They run, they're strong, there's a reasonable explanation of where they came from. It's filmed with a lot of mockamentary realism. But ultimately, the movie is a human story, not a horror movie. It doesn't provoke fear as often as a typical horror movie. Though when it does, it does it well.
And for the human story involved, it's simply about a helpless boy who grew to face the enemy for the ones he loved and becoming a survivalist, and the girl who was a survivalist and learned to love and enjoy life again. It's very simple yet well-balanced.
The romance is very convincing, unlike most Hollywood romance that feel tacked on and by-default. When Jim tried to kiss Selena the first time, it was obvious that he did out of desperation, loneliness and helplessness, not true affection. Selena rejected obviously because she saw that, and it didn't matter if she had any feelings towards Jim, she would refuse any emotional attachment to anyone regardless. By the end of the movie, they got together for good reasons, and we are all understand and appreciate how they got there.
The low points: It felt like an 80-min movie stretched out too long. It feels like there's only 2 acts. As a human story, 4 characters are not enough to explore the wide range of emotions and interactions that exist in an apocalyptic scenario.
Shortcomings aside, the movie feels fresh and original. Being a big Danny Boyle fan (ever since "Shallow Grave", before the "Trainspotting" phenomenon), this movie is a redeeming attempt to the disaster that was "the Beach". And I think he won my heart once again.
If you are a typical horror movie fan, this is not the flick for you. You'll probably be disappointed. It's more of an indie movie with a horror twist.

4/5 stars